Transparency, public health and tobacco control NGOs have written to EU Commission President, José Barroso, to complain about Commission officials having undisclosed meetings with tobacco lobbyists in violation of UN rules, according to a story in the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEU).

The undisclosed meetings were said to be particularly controversial in the context of the resignation, ‘under unclear and contested circumstances’, of John Dalli from his position as European Commissioner responsible for health and consumer affairs.

There was said to be growing discontent with the Commission’s handling of the case, including its refusal to answer key questions about what had happened in respect of Dalli.
The letter, a joint initiative of the Alliance for Lobby Transparency and Ethics Regulation, Corporate Accountability International, European Public Health Alliance and the Smoke-Free Partnership.

The NGOs call upon Barroso to ensure that the European Commission, as a whole, properly implements Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

This should include, they said, listing the meetings it has with tobacco industry lobbyists, and publishing the minutes of those meetings online.